Sex offenders to take lie detector tests

Dangerous sex offenders set to be released from jail will be forced to take lie detector tests when their sentence ends.

Sex offenders will be forced to take lie detector tests (Picture: Getty)

Paedophiles and rapists will answer questions about their intentions when they leave prison while connected to a polygraph machine.A Downing Street source said: ‘It’s vital that we protect the public from serious sex offenders.’That’s why the conditions after they leave prison need to be both strict and rigorously enforced.’The new scheme follows a series of pilots launched by the Labour party between April 2009 and October 2011, which found that offenders on lie detectors made twice as many admissions about contacting victims on their release than those who did not take the test.

Offenders also reported that the tests helped them to better manage their own behaviour, according to the government.

A further rollout of the initiative is being looked at as a way to manage the most serious sex offenders.

The results of the lie detector tests could see the terms of their release restricted or, in the most serious cases, land them back in prison.

Around 3,000 sex offenders are currently being managed on licence in the community, with 750 considered to be the most serious offenders, the category that would be subjected to the polygraph tests.